LinkedIn Checklists for Your Career

You can use LinkedIn for getting a job, personal branding, and promoting products and services. You can publish posts, interact in groups, write articles, run advertisements, and network with others. The opportunities of LinkedIn are huge, but you need to follow the good practices of using LinkedIn. This article lists several checklists for using LinkedIn for career-related purposes.

Optimizing LinkedIn Profile

1. Use a professional headshot as your profile image.
2. Create a compelling headline that accurately reflects your role and expertise.
3. Write an exciting summary that paints a picture of who you are as a professional.
4. Use the right keywords so your profile appears in relevant search results.
5. Highlight your experience and the results that you have achieved.
6. Don’t forget to include your skills and any relevant certifications.
7. Add visual media, such as a background photo or videos, to make your profile stand out.
8. Customize your LinkedIn URL to make it more memorable.
9. Keep growing your connections by connecting with people you know and those you meet in a professional capacity.
10. Ask for recommendations and endorsements from past colleagues and employers.

Content for LinkedIn Profile

1. Keep your posts brief and to the point.
2. Use visuals whenever possible to increase engagement.
3. Post content that is relevant to your industry.
4. Engage with other members by responding to comments and posts.
5. Post regularly to increase engagement and visibility.
6. Tag influencers, companies, and other members who might be interested in your post.

Articles for LinkedIn

1. Identify the purpose of your article and the audience you’re trying to reach.
2. Make sure your article is well-researched and free of errors.
3. Use a clear and engaging headline that will grab the reader’s attention.
4. Write in a conversational style to keep readers engaged.
5. Structure your article in an easy-to-follow format.
6. Include visuals to enhance the article and help readers visualize the information.
7. Use relevant keywords to help your article appear in search results.
8. Invite readers to leave a comment or share the article.
9. Proofread your article and ensure it is free of typos and other errors.
10. Publish your article and share it on other social media channels.

Personal Branding on LinkedIn

1. Identify your unique selling proposition and use it to differentiate yourself from the competition.
2. Choose a professional profile photo that reflects your brand.
3. Create a compelling headline that accurately reflects your role and expertise.
4. Customize your profile URL to make it easier for people to find you.
5. Create and share high-quality content that reflects your expertise.
6. Engage with other members in a meaningful way.
7. Use hashtags to target your ideal audience.
8. Ask for recommendations and endorsements from past colleagues and employers.
9. Leverage influencers in your industry to increase your visibility.
10. Participate in groups related to your industry to network and find potential customers.

Promoting Products and Services on LinkedIn

1. Prepare the LinkedIn company page with the required information.
2. Post valuable, insightful, and engaging content every day or every alternative day.
3. Publish articles on LinkedIn. Make it short (around 300 to 500 words) but informative and credible.
4. Ask your audience to take your desired action.
5. Engage on LinkedIn Groups related to the industry. 
6. Run polls on your connections.

Popular Types of Content for LinkedIn 

1. Videos: you can share YouTube videos if the video publisher is credible and not your competitor.
2. Infographics: try statista.com, pinterest.com, etc.
3. Use quotes from renowned people to encourage your readers in career development, personal development, etc.
4. Provide tips on your area of expertise. Build your authority with small pieces of tips every week.
5. Share your constructive comments on news articles that are related to your area of expertise.
6. Statistics show that you work with numbers. It increases your credibility.
7. Run polls at specific intervals if you can get at least a few hundred participants.
8. Celebrate company wins and milestones, and give kudos to your team members.
9. Highlight yourself along with other well-known personnel to build your personal branding.
10. Share or refer good resources, such as books, courses, etc., to your audiences.
11. Highlight your company culture, such as celebrating special days in the office, work-life balance, etc.

Elements of LinkedIn Posts

1. A rich media (image or video) that expands your text content.
2. A CTA. For example, contact us, let’s discuss, explore more, read more, etc.
3. A link to the relevant webpage otherwise to the website’s home page.
4. Related hashtags and a few branded hashtags.
5. If applicable, give credit/ citation to the author or publisher of the video, news, article, etc.

Tips for Good Copywriting for LinkedIn

1. Use conversational English in short to medium sentences and short paragraphs.
2. Avoid sarcasm.
3. Tell customers the answer to “why should I care and take action?”
4. Avoid wasting the reader’s time, and be direct.
5. Use active voice.
6. Don’t use 2 words where 1 word is sufficient to communicate.
7. Avoid cliché or jargon that is not well known.
8. Avoid mysterious headlines.
9. Use image and call to action.
10. Use subheads after 2 or 3 paragraphs or after every 300 words
11. Link when it is helpful.
12. Use bullet points or numbering to organize your content.

Content Quality

1. It is better to post discussion-provoking content, such as commenting on news or changes in the industry, etc.
2. Focus on the first line of the caption. It should attract the users to read the rest of the content.
3. Generally, the best time to publish on LinkedIn is during office hours in the targeted country.
4. LinkedIn is the place for personal branding. Be consistent with your personality, tone, etc.
5. Whenever possible, try to optimize with terminologies used in your area of expertise, roles, numbers, statistics, references, your experience, expertise, rewards, achievements, etc.

Networking in LinkedIn

1. Start with connections, then build professional relationships. Find five people and connect with them regularly.
2. Send a note introducing yourself and why you want to connect with the person when you send a connection request.
3. Engage with your connections; for example, wish them special days or achievements.
4. Only post high-quality content. 
5. Quality and consistency are more important than quantity. If you can manage three posts per week, then be consistent with that.
6. Show your professional personality (LinkedIn is not about personal stuff) that adds value to other LinkedIn users.
7. Join groups – and stay active in valuable discussions.
8. Claim your custom LinkedIn profile URL and use it in all communication (email signature, business card, etc.)
9. LinkedIn is more about numbers, statistics, infographics, short articles, and short videos than other forms of content.
10. Avoid hard sales. Build your personal brand and let people connect with you.
11. Keep refining your LinkedIn profile. Profiles updated recently get more traffic.
12. Publish engaging content on your company page.

Related Article:

• How to Answer “How Have You Been” – Interview Question
• How to Move Out, When, & How Much Money You Need
• Share Your Experiences and Learnings – Accepting Interview Articles
• Top 12 Trending Career Paths for Coming Years
• How to Answer “What Interests You About This Job?” – Interview Tips

Conclusion

LinkedIn is the must-have social media for your career and business. The good practices of LinkedIn are different from many other media. There are many courses on separate aspects of LinkedIn. This article lists the key checklists for using LinkedIn for your career.

Would you like to add more points to any of these checklists? Please share that in the comments.